CHI98LA125

The pilot reported that the airplane was just leveling off after a descent of 700 feet. The wind was light in smooth air. The airplane was in a 15 degree angle of bank right turn, 1 to 2 degrees nose down attitude, and at 180 mph. The airspeed was in the middle of the yellow arc. The pilot reported the airplane began to shake violently like a rivet gun hitting against the fuselage, or like a machine gun. He said the vibrations reverberated throughout his body. He did not feel any vibrations in the controls. He pushed over on the control column after about three seconds of vibration. The vibration stopped. An uneventful landing was made. The aircraft inspection revealed cracks in the upper two corners of the FS 256.9 bulkhead. The forward spar of the right ruddervator was broken. A crack had proceeded through the top spar flange and had worked its way down to the bottom flange but stopped about 1/4 inch prior to reaching a rivet hole. The center hinge had broken and a 8.5 inch skin tear was evident on the top surface of the ruddervator. The ruddervators were properly balanced. The inspection revealed no maintenance anomalies. The FAA issued an Airworthiness Directive 98-13-02 on July 7, 1998, restricting the airspeed to 144 mph on Beech 35, A35,and B35 airplanes. The aircraft manufacturer issued a Service Bulletin 27-3358 in February 2000, which required an extensive inspection of empennage components, and it changed the ruddervator underbalance from 16.8 to 19.8 inch pounds to 16.8 to 18.0 inch pounds in order to lift the speed restriction.

History of flight

On April 13, 1998, at 1000 central daylight time, a Beech B35, N5246C, experienced tail flutter during cruise flight near Bentonville, Arkansas. At 180 mph the aircraft began shaking violently. When the pilot reduced power the airplane stopped shaking, and the pilot made an uneventful landing. The pilot and one passenger were not injured. The 14 CFR Part 91 flight departed Springdale, Arkansas, and was en route to Bentonville Municipal Airport, Bentonville, Arkansas. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan had been filed.

The pilot reported that the airplane was just leveling off after a descent of 700 feet. The wind was light in smooth air. The airplane was in a 15 degree angle of bank right turn, 1 to 2 degrees nose down attitude, and at 180 mph. He reported the airspeed was in the middle of the yellow arc. The pilot reported that the airplane began to shake violently. He described the vibration like a rivet gun hitting against the fuselage. He said the vibrations reverberated throughout his body. He did not feel any vibrations in the controls. He pushed over on the control column after about three seconds of vibration. The vibration stopped. The pilot and passenger thought it was turbulence and continued flying for about five minutes. The pilot made a 2G turn in order to take some photographs out the left side of the airplane. An uneventful landing was made at Bentonville, Arkansas.

The pilot and passenger did not notice any damage to the airplane when they put it in the hangar. Later as they were talking about the event, a friend told them they experienced tail flutter. They returned to the hangar and found the damage to the right stabilizer and ruddervator. They notified a repair facility which specialized in repairing V-tail Bonanza's. The pilot and owner were informed to not disturb the aircraft in any manner until it could be inspected by the proper authorities.

Personnel information

The pilot held a commercial certificate with single and multi-engine land ratings. He held a Second Class medical certificate. He had a total of about 2,000 hours of flight time, with 50 hours in the same make and model of aircraft. He was a Certified Flight Instructor with about 300 hours of instructional time given.

The owner of the airplane did not have a pilot's certificate. He had owned the airplane for approximately four years. He had hired the pilot to fly the airplane.

Aircraft information

The airplane was a single engine Beech B35 Bonanza, serial number D-2638. The airplane seated four and had a maximum gross weight of 2,650 pounds. The engine was a 196 horsepower Continental E-185-8 engine. The last annual inspection was conducted on March 10, 1998. The airplane had flown one hour since the last inspection and had a total time of 6,466 hours.

The following Airworthiness Directives were complied with during the annual inspection:

AD 58-18-01 Aft fuselage bulkhead cracks.

AD 75-05-04 Stabilizer attach fittings.

AD 89-05-02 Ruddervator torque fittings.

AD 94-20-04 Ruddervator balance.

AD 97-06-11 Ruddervator push rods.

The airplane had been painted on January 28, 1998, and both ruddervators were checked for static balance.

The propeller was dynamically balanced to 0.10 IPS in July 1997.

The airframe logbooks indicated that the ailerons and ruddervators were reskinned, painted, and balanced on March 20, 1996. The airplane had flown approximately 153 hours since the ruddervators had been reskinned.

Aircraft Inspection

The aircraft inspection revealed the following:

Flight control cables:

No excessive looseness was exhibited.

Ruddervator Balance:

Both left and right ruddervators were in the proper balance range of 16.8 to 19.8 inch pounds. The left and right ruddervators balanced at 17.68 and 18.2 inch pounds, respectively.

Ruddervator Counterweights:

The ruddervator counterweights and the aluminum shells to which the counterweights are attached were weighed. They weighed 3.62 and 3.61 pounds. The aluminum shell and attaching hardware weighed about .6 pounds. The two counterweights weighed about 3 pounds each. (The original counterweight installed on the B35 Bonanza weighed 2.13 pounds)

FS 256.9 Bulkhead:

The 256.9 bulkhead had cracks in the upper two corners of the bulkhead.

Right Ruddervator:

The right ruddervator had a skin tear on the top skin from the front spar at the center hinge point, halfway back (8.5 inches) to the trailing edge. The bottom skin was buckled in this area at the forward spar. The forward spar was broken, just outboard of the center hinge point. The top spar flange and the vertical part of the spar were broken in two. The crack had proceeded from the top of the flange and worked its way down to the bottom flange. The bottom flange had not yet cracked in two. The center hinge had broken.

Right Stabilizer:

The stabilizer was securely attached to the stabilizer attach fitting and the FS 256.9 bulkhead. The top of the right stabilizer was deformed, starting at the rib just outboard of the center hinge and stabilizer rear spar running forward and outboard to the forward spar at the stabilizer tip. The aft end of the stabilizer was twisted upward from the center hinge to the outboard hinge and tip.

The inboard ends of the stabilizers, at the fuselage, had moved. The right stabilizer at the leading edge moved down about 1/8 inch. The left stabilizer at the leading edge moved up about 1/16 inch.

Left Stabilizer:

The stabilizer was securely attached to the stabilizer attach fitting and the FS 256.9 bulkhead. The left stabilizer had a slight bend and buckle in the aft spar on the top of the spar flange about 3/4 of the way out to the tip. There was no other wrinkling on the top stabilizer. The bottom of the left stabilizer was wrinkled at the outboard hinge area. The wrinkle was about 7 inches long, running forward and downward from the outboard hinge.

Left Ruddervator:

The left ruddervator was undamaged.

Trim Tabs:

The left and right trim tabs were undamaged.

Fuselage Damage:

Damage to the fuselage included wrinkles about one inch long located on the left and right side of the FS 256.9 bulkhead.

The airplane was inspected for items installed that were not original to the aircraft as manufactured. The installed items included:

1. Fuselage 10 gallon auxiliary fuel tank.

2. Stall warning removed from trailing edge (Flying vane type) and new style installed on leading edge of left wing.

3. P35 style square wingtips.

4. Cleveland wheels and brakes.

5. Beech long third window kit with extended hat shelf. Beech Model Kit 337.

6. New style pilot's windows on left and right.

7. Beryl long sloped windshield. 3/8 inch thick.

8. Cowl gill panels have "Cat whiskers."

9. Reskinned ruddervators and ailerons.

10. Stall cuffs on inboard leading edges of both wings. These came installed on C35 and later models.

11. Battery box forward of firewall.

12. New style instrument panel from keyboard switches up.

13. Individual front seats from late model Bonanza.

14. S35 overhead air console.

15. Pointed fiberglass tail cone.

16. Beryl air/oil separator.

17. Oil filter kit.

Tests and research

The magnesium ruddervators of the airplane had been sent to a repair facility to be reskinned about three years prior to the accident. The facility that reskinned the ruddervators specialized in overhauling flight control surfaces.

The right ruddervator and right stabilizer were taken to a repair facility for disassembly and inspection. The disassembly of the ruddervator revealed the parts weighed the following:

Counterweight and shell with one washer added 3 lbs. 8.9 oz. (3.56 lbs.) (0.05 lbs. difference noted from on site inspection.)

Horn hardware 0.9 o